Wyoming Supreme Court Upholds Rodriguez Conviction
According to the Wyoming Supreme Court, a jury found Anthony Rodriguez guilty of second-degree murder and domestic battery.
Anthony Rodriguez was convicted of second-degree murder in April of last year in the stabbing death of Mary Fogle, his mother-in-law. K2News covered the previous details of the case four months ago.
Rodriguez was sentenced to 70 years to life behind bars in August 2020. He subsequently appealed the judgment in March 2021.
The district court ordered an evaluation to determine whether at the time of the alleged crime, as a result of mental illness or deficiency, he lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct.
Dr. Katherine Mahaffey, a forensic psychologist with the Wyoming State Hospital, performed the evaluation.
As to Mr. Rodriguez’s criminal responsibility, Dr. Mahaffey concluded:
"Based on all available information, it is this examiner’s opinion that, at the time of the alleged offenses, Mr. Rodriguez did not suffer from a mental illness or mental deficiency so severely abnormal as to have grossly and demonstrably impaired his perception or understanding of reality. It can be stated with a reasonable degree of psychological certainty that, at the time of the alleged criminal conduct, Mr. Rodriguez did not lack substantial capacity, as a result of mental illness or deficiency, either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law."
According to the Wyoming Supreme Court documents, "The evidence was overwhelming that when Mr. Rodriguez committed his crimes, he was not suffering a severely abnormal mental condition, and he understood the wrongfulness of his conduct."